Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for managing devices having multiple power supply modes.
Description of the Related Art
Some management devices that manage management target devices, such as a printer and a computer, periodically request information, such as status information, from the management target devices. In order to respond to such requests from the management devices, the management target devices need to be supplied with a certain amount of power, and it is difficult to keep the management target devices in a low power consumption mode.
Meanwhile, a technique is being considered in which a management target device notifies a management device of its power supply mode when the management target device enters a low power consumption mode and when the management target device returns from the low power consumption mode, and the management device, upon receiving the notification, refrains from requesting information from the management target device while the management target device is in the low power consumption mode so as to allow the management target device to stay in the low power consumption mode (e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-215686).
However, even if the management target device is to notify the management device of the power supply mode, if the notification of the power supply mode is transmitted to unspecified destinations through multicasting, an appropriate TTL value needs to be set relative to a hop count. If the TTL value is not set appropriately, the notification does not reach the management device, and the management target device needs to return from the low power consumption mode. Alternatively, there is a technique in which a management target device responds to a periodic request for information from a management device while the management target device remains in a low power consumption mode, and the management target device can respond only to predefined inquiries while the management target device is in the low power consumption mode.